of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



333 



with R. maculata ; on the ' recessus orbitalis,' an accessory visual organ 

 he has discovered in flat-fishes ; on the reproduction of the scad or horse- 

 mackerel, &c. The eggs of the latter species were found to be pelagic. 

 In the same number, Mr J. T. Cunningham discusses the young stages of 

 Zeugoyterus punctatus, and describes experiments he carried on on the 

 rearing of the larvae of whiting, flounder, and plaice. Some of the latter 

 were kept alive until they were thirty-seven days old. 



In the next number of the Journal* Mr Holt gives further results of 

 his enquiries on North Sea fisheries. He states that the Iceland trawl- 

 fishery cannot be said to have been satisfactory last season, the trawlers 

 for the first time having a difficulty in getting fish. In previous years 

 the only difficulty was in getting a fair price for them ; but out of 

 twenty-five voyages in May 1894, twenty averaged but little more than 

 100 boxes each, and some of the best grounds appear to be already 

 practically 'cleaned out.' In a paper on experiments and observations 

 made at the Plymouth Laboratory, Mr ,T. T. Cunningham deals with 

 several subjects, such as the diagnostic character in flat-fishes, the 

 development of the egg in flat-fishes and pipe-fishes, the growth and 

 distribution of young food-fishes, &c. Mr Cunningham also furnishes a 

 review of our knowledge on the larva of the eel, and describes the results 

 of recent investigations on the subject by two Italian naturalists, Grassi 

 and Calandruccio, who have satisfied themselves that one of the Lepto- 

 cephali (L. brevirostris) is the larva of the common eel. The number 

 also contains brief papers by Mr Cunningham on the migration of the 

 anchovy, and by Mr Holt on some supposed hybrids between the turbot 

 and the brill. Professor M'Intosh's paper, 'Kemarks on Trawling,' 

 which appeared in the Twelfth Annual Report of the Fishery Board, is 

 republished in this number of the Journal. 



The Lancashire Sea Fisheries Committee, whose work has been re- 

 ferred to in previous Reports, continues to carry on a number of important 

 investigations, both at the Fisheries Laboratory at University College, 

 Liverpool, and by means of their steamer ' John Fell.' In the report on 

 the work done at the Fisheries Laboratory f a detailed account is given 

 of inquiries into the food of fishes and shell-fish, the distribution of 

 immature fish, &c. From the further investigations into the food of 

 young fishes, in order to discover the chief sources of nourishment after 

 the contents of the yolk-sac have been used up, it seems pretty certain 

 that, after the larval fishes have absorbed the food supply in the yolk-sac, 

 they pass to the stage in which copepoda form the chief food, and when 

 that stage is passed they take to feeding on larger invertebrata, such as 

 small annelids, mollusca, &c. The food of young plaice, dabs, sprats, 

 &c. is described, and also the results of the examination of the stomachs 

 of 1664 fishes above three-and-a-half inches in length. It is shown that 

 the food-material of the plaice on the Lancashire coast differs to some 

 extent from what it is on the east coast of Scotland ; in the former place 

 they feed chiefly on molluscs, in the latter for the most part on annelids. 

 A number of experiments are detailed regarding the vitality of trawled 

 fish and their chance of survival when returned to the sea, and the sub- 

 ject of the hatching and culture of sea-fishes is dealt with. Concerning 

 the latter it is pointed out that the northern area of the Irish Sea, in the 

 centre of which the Isle of Man lies, and which contains the Lancashire Sea- 

 Fisheries District, is by itself 1 one large natural sea-fish area, with its own 

 * spawning-grounds, nurseries, and feeding- grounds, independent, so far as 



* Joum. Marine Biological Association, vol. iii., No. 4, 1895. 



f Report on the Investigations carried on in 1894 in connection with the Lancashire 

 Sea-Fisheries Laboratory at University College, Liverpool. By Professor W. A. 

 Herdman, D.Sc, F.R.S., and Mr Andrew Scott, Fisheries Assistant. 



